Here Without You
by Vanity-chan
Summary: Continuation of Blind. Once again, he walks away from her, but for once, he was glad that he was able to show her what she really means in his life, even if he wasn't able to tell her that directly. SasuSaku.


_It was raining when he came back._

_I just walked there at the gates to give the guards some papers Tsunade-sama asked me to deliver, and it just happened that he decided to came back at that time. At the back of my mind, something was telling me that it wasn't just a coincidence, that it was meant to happen that I'll be there when he set his foot on Konoha, but I ignored it, telling myself that it's nonsense thinking that way._

_My eyes widened in shock, mixed emotions filling me… My mind… my heart. I blinked my eyes and stared at him, his head bowed down a bit, his clothing filled with blood stains and his body probably is bloodier than his clothes._

_Some of his features were still the same. His onyx eyes remained void of emotion. His spiked black hair remained shiny, although it grew a bit with years of his training with the snake sannin. He's taller now, a head taller than me._

_I froze when he raised his bowed head to look at me. He furrowed his eyebrows, squinting his eyes in my direction. I tried to move my feet on the ground, but they won't budge. So I just waited for him to limp his way to me, until he was already a foot away._

"_S-Sa… kura…"_

_I half-smiled. He remembered me after all._

_I walked beside him, placing one arm around his waist and taking his other arm on my shoulder, so I can support his weight. I smiled at him, before we began walking to the hospital._

"…_Sasuke-kun."_

_I'm so glad I'm the first person he saw when he came back._

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**Here Without You**

**By: -strictly ext only-**

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Sasuke groaned, standing in the hallway of his house. He felt a bit exhausted with all the training he did.

_I've waited so long. And I can't wait anymore._

Sakura's words echoed in his perplexed mind. He never really cared about what she thought, what she said or what she did... so why would he now? It was all too sudden, it all happened so fast. He could not remember when he ever felt like he cared for her.

Or was he just not bothering to admit that he did care for her from the start?

Scowling to himself, he went to his room to change. He just came home from training, all the while thinking about Sakura's words. He grabbed his towel and went to the bathroom.

And there he goes again, wondering why her words would mean anything to him. Why would SHE mean anything to him anyway? Has she really occupied a big part of his heart, if he could still believe that he has one?

He had always pushed his feelings away to attain his goal. So, probably, his heart was already numb.

_Well, the goal is now forgotten. I don't want to follow after his steps._

Yes, that he was sure of. But a part of him felt like he has a new goal at this moment. A new goal that will help him get the happiness he so wanted to have. A new goal that will make him forget about all that happened in the past.

"Really annoying…" Stepping into the shower, he remembered that he had to do something.

-----

_A hundred days have made me older  
__Since the last time that I saw your pretty face  
__A thousand lies have made me colder  
__And I don't think I can look at this the same_

-----

"Ne, forehead-girl, let's talk."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her. "About what?"

Ino grinned. "About everything!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Ino had heard of her quarrel with Sasuke, probably from Naruto.

And when Ino says 'everything,' it included Sasuke and her never-ending feelings for him. She sat back down on the couch, looking around Ino's cozy house. They always hang out now, in a weird way, some would say, because they still called each other, 'forehead-girl' and 'Ino-pig.'

"I've heard about you and Sasuke." Ino glanced at her as she fixed the flowers she received from Shikamaru in a vase.

"Yeah… I've heard about you and Shikamaru too." Sakura answered back.

Ino rolled her eyes at Sakura's attempt to avoid any topic that has something to do with the Uchiha. Smiling at the flowers in the vase, content with the arrangement she had done, she walked to the couch and sat beside her. "The feelings aren't mutual, yes, but you can make the mutual!"

Sakura scoffed at her, saying something like, 'ice-cube Sasuke' and 'impossible' and then Ino grabbed her hand and looked seriously in her eyes. It nearly scared her, but she listened, nonetheless.

"No one can avoid having feelings, not even Sasuke. And you too. You can't keep pretending that you feel nothing for him when almost everyone in Konoha knows that you do."

Sakura sighed, grabbing a throw pillow and hugging it close to her chest. "I've tried talking to him that day when he came back, but she just pushed me away."

"_Why won't the gods just simply make you cease to exist?"_

She shook her head to drive the thoughts away.

"I've done what I can do. I would really appreciate it if he would be the one to reach out this time."

-----

_But all the miles that separate  
__Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face_

-----

"So, teme, you told me you needed to talk to me about something. What is it?"

Sasuke clasped his hands together and leaned his elbows on the table. He turned sideways to look at Naruto who was already busy eating his ramen. Things never change.

"Sakura…"

Upon hearing the cherry blossom's name, Naruto abruptly stopped eating and straightened up from his former hunched position. He stared at Sasuke's face.

"This I will tell you, teme. There's really nothing much that happened those years that you were gone."

Naruto turned his head to stare at his bowl of ramen, thoughts of the past few years that Sasuke had been away. He knew Sakura didn't take it so well. He remembered how she would always go straight back home after her training with the Godaime, and he would try and talk to her, even from outside her house. He knew that she would listen to him yell and shout like a madman, standing on the empty road and staring up at her bedroom window.

Other times, she would go to his house and offer to cook, maybe so she could find something to do and not think about anything. Because if she is alone, she would do nothing but cry herself to sleep, staring at the framed picture of Team Seven in her hands.

"I never really knew what happened between the two of you before you left Konoha, but…"

The sentence was left unfinished, as Naruto shook his head in disappointment. Maybe he was disappointed at him.

Sasuke's face remained stoic, looking at Naruto from the corner of his eyes. Quietly, he remembered what he told her, his last words, before he knocked her unconscious and left her in that cold bench.

"_Sakura… Thank you."_

What he was thanking for… he is now well aware of that.

"I know that there was something you told her that night that made her this way." Naruto sighed and gripped the pair of chopsticks in his hand tighter. "You are aware that you've hurt her so much… because of that selfish goal of yours. You wasted those years and look at you now, you didn't even continue it."

Naruto turned sideways to glare at him, banging his fist on the table. "You've hurt her for nothing. You left her for nothing. You…"

He took a deep breath, maybe in attempts to calm himself. "…changed her for nothing."

Sasuke's hands tightened into fists as he closed his eyes, Naruto's words ringing in his mind. Yes, he knew from the start that if he leaves, Sakura would be the one to feel most of the pain. It displeased him now, after hearing it from another person.

It was true, what the dobe said. He hurt her for nothing, left her for nothing, and changed her for nothing.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Naruto placed the bowl of ramen on the wooden table with a loud thud.

"Teme, if you ever hurt Sakura-chan again, I swear, I will really kill you. You've made her suffer enough. I won—"

"Shut up, dobe, because I'm not planning to hurt her anymore. I want her to accept me, and I don't care if she won't." Sasuke hid a smirk as he let the words flow out of his lips.

Naruto's eyes popped out of their sockets in a comical fashion and he backed away from him fastly, gaping at his best friend, his supposedly _unfeeling _best friend, as if he suddenly turned into the snake sannin.

"T-THE UCHIHA SASUKE WILL _TELL _SAKURA-CHAN THAT HE _LOVES _HER? I would believe the love-love part, but _you_ actually telling her? N-No… way…"

Sasuke noticed how he emphasized some words, and he rolled his eyes. And he said that he would believe the… 'love-love' part? What? He never mentioned anything about that, though, for some reason, he believed it's true.

But…

_Can I tell her?_

He laughed shortly under his breath, turning his head sideways so that Naruto won't see his face. "Cut it out, dobe."

Naruto snapped out of it and slapped his back very hard. Sasuke groaned.

"Man, I've been doing that back then, and she never accepted me. So good luck, teme."

Sasuke looked at him, as he continued to gobble up his ramen, thinking of how much he also changed.

_So he still feels the same for her, huh?_

Just as Sasuke was about to say that out loud to mock him, Naruto suddenly shot his head up again. "And if you're thinking that I still… like her, you're wrong. I have Hinata-chan."

Sasuke smirked.

-----

_I'm here without you, baby  
__But you're still on my lonely mind  
__I think about you, baby  
__And I dream about you all the time_

-----

Sakura smiled as she remembered how Ino babbled on about how to win a man's heart, telling her how she won Shikamaru's heart. She had given up on Sasuke a long time ago, and now, she's rooting for Sakura to make things clear between her and Sasuke.

But, what she told him the other day…

Did she really mean it?

_Sasuke-kun…_

Sakura, frustrated, plopped herself on the couch. She glared hard at the table in front of her.

Yes, it was true that she doesn't want to wait anymore, and to get hurt again. She had loved him with all her heart that she would do anything for him, just like what she said before he left years ago. She tried her best to be strong for him, so that finally, he won't think of her weak.

But she realized that even if she's strong now, (with super human strength at that) her heart remained weak. Maybe she never got the strength she really wanted to have. After all these years, she's still weak. She had done everything just to be strong for _him, _but maybe it's just that they weren't meant to be.

"Sasuke…"

She laughed at her thoughts. Not meant to be? Since when did she believe in fate? True, there were sayings about fate bringing people together, or that your future already laid out for you… But that belief is for people who don't do anything to their lives to change it.

Sakura is not one of the persons who believe such things. So why start believing those now?

Pathetic.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Getting up, she walked to the front door. Who would come visit her today? She had already talked to Ino, Naruto told her that he has a date with Hinata, Kakashi-sensei is busy…

Opening the door, she came face to face with Sai.

Sakura blinked momentarily. "Sai…"

Sai smirked at her. Crossing his arms, he asked, "Old hag, would you mind?"

Sakura, a bit flustered, took a step aside to let him in. When they were inside her house, she closed the door behind her. Sai continued to walk, wandering in her house in search for her living room. He was pretty familiar with her house, Sakura didn't know why, since he had just been there twice. It was the time when Naruto refused to go to the hospital and Sai dragged him to her house and the other time was when he was sent by Kakashi to talk to him about a mission.

Sakura walked behind him, not wanting to walk at his side. Looking up to stare at the back of his head, she wondered why Sai was here. _It's just not like him to visit… friends. If he considers me as one of his._

"Sai, why are you here?"

Sai left her question unanswered and instead, walked to the living room and made himself comfortable. For a while, he studied the few framed pictures on the small table at the corner of the room, scoffing when he saw the picture of Team 7 in their genin days. Sakura probably has one copy of this picture in her room as well.

Sitting down, he looked at her, who was standing across the center table in the living room, staring at him questioningly. She was taken aback at how he was acting, making himself at home just like that.

"What, Sai?"

"I heard that the Uchiha guy is back."

-----

_I'm here without you, baby  
__But you're still with me in my dreams  
__And tonight, girl, it's only you and me_

-----

There was a flash of sadness in Sakura's eyes. Sai immediately saw it, trying to hide the amusement that's etched on his face. So there's a _thing_ going on between them, eh?

"You're a day too late to say that. But yes, he's back. Since the other day. What about it?"

She tried her best to sound casual, putting aside what happened between them just the other day. Why would she even bother telling Sai anyway? As if he would care. _And as if he can be of any help._

"I also heard… that you two had an… argument perhaps? A lovers' quarrel maybe?"

Sakura sat down on the couch across him, crossed her arms and glared at him like there's no tomorrow. News fly fast, don't they? She suddenly wondered why everyone was asking her about what happened the other day. Maybe there were many people who witnessed their quarrel. She got too absorbed by the words that she told Sasuke to even notice. But then again…

"Shut the hell up, Sai. We were never lovers. Why are there rumors about us anyway?"

Her eyes narrowed… a little suspicion. Something's fishy. "Or maybe you've heard from Naruto?"

Sai shook his head. "I've never seen Naruto since I got back from a mission. It was Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Kakashi-sensei? How could he have known? Maybe Naruto told him…"

"Anyway, do you still love him?" Sai asked her quite challengingly, smirking at her as she stared at him in disbelief.

She frowned, clenching her hands in fury. How rude of him to ask! Even though they were teammates, he shouldn't be this nosy, especially when it comes to her love life! He doesn't even look like someone you could trust with those information.

Sai raised an eyebrow, indicating that he's still waiting for her answer.

"None of your business." She simply said. She didn't want to make things more complicated than it already is.

"I take that as a yes."

Sakura scoffed. "How can that be a yes? I never said yes!"

Sai chuckled mockingly. "But you just did. You said, 'I never said YES,' right?"

Sakura rolled her eyes again. _What a pathetic way to get me to talk._

"Ha, ha. Funny, Sai." Her voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Oh? But I said it with no intention of humoring you. You have strange thinking, old hag." Sai answered back, amusement fully evident in his black eyes.

Scoffing, Sakura turned her head to the side, pushing away the violent thoughts already forming in her head. The urge to punch his face, or mark his face with her footprint, or send him flying to the Hokage monument was very tempting… Why is she wasting her time with him anyway?

"Bastard."

Sai suddenly stood up, not letting Sakura continue what she was about to say. Sakura blinked a couple of times before contemplating what he was doing. Also standing up abruptly, she ran after him.

"Wait!"

Walking to the door, Sai grabbed the knob and turned to look at her.

"He's the kind of guy who couldn't swallow his pride and apologize. If nobody would reach out and apologize or even talk, how will the two of you be able to patch things up?"

With that, Sai left her alone, standing inside her house with a baffled look on her face.

She gaped, his words slowly registering in her mind.

"Was that really Sai that said that?" She asked herself.

-----

_The miles just keep rolling  
__As the people leave their way to say hello  
__I've heard this life is overrated  
__But I hope that it's gets better as we go_

-----

"Yeah! And then I sent him flying—"

Naruto's sentence was cut short when Hinata pointed behind him with a worried look on her face. Turning around, Naruto squinted his eyes to look at the figure standing not too far away.

"Sakura-chan!" He raised his hands to wave at her, grinning from ear to ear.

Coming up to them, Sakura smiled slightly. "I see… you two dating again?"

Hinata blushed deeply while Naruto nodded his head a bit vigorously. He threw an arm around Hinata's shoulders and grinned at the pink-haired girl. "Hai, hai, Sakura-chan!"

Sitting beside Naruto, she sighed exhaustedly. "Naruto, have you seen Sasuke?"

Naruto blinked a few times, before his eyes averted to something, or someone behind Sakura. He chuckled, facing his bowl of ramen and continued his eating.

Hinata cleared her throat, smiling at Sakura slightly. "H-He's behind y-you, Sakura-san."

Turning around abruptly, Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke face to face. Sasuke tilted his head slightly, looking down at her. "You want to talk?"

Sakura immediately averted her eyes from him and crossed her arms. "I have nothing to tell you."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto and Hinata who seemed to be ignoring their awkward moment. He pulled Sakura gently by the wrist, urging her to stand up.

She sighed, but stood up nonetheless.

"I have to tell you something, Sakura."

-----

_I'm here without you, baby  
But you're still on my lonely mind  
I think about you, baby  
And I dream about you all the time  
I'm here without you, baby  
But you're still with me in my dreams  
And tonight, girl, its only you and me_

_-----_

They walked to a place where only a few people could be seen taking a stroll, or chatting quietly. Sakura looked at the back of his head, wondering what he's up to. Sasuke had never initiated the talk before; he would always be the one to just listen, or to ignore her.

He stopped walking, and they were now standing on the bridge—Team Seven's meeting place. He leaned on the railing, closing his eyes.

Sakura leaned her back and rested her elbows on the railing, glancing at Sasuke's quiet profile. He was acting strange, and he seemed quieter than ever. "Sasuke…"

He opened his eyes, noticing that the usual suffix that she always added after his name was gone. He looked at her with distant eyes. "I'm… sorry."

Sakura straightened stiffly, hearing his low voice speak out the words that she never expected to hear in a million years. Slowly, she turned her head to face him, her left hand placed on the railing as she looked at her confusedly.

"S-Sasuke-kun…"

He took a step closer, ignoring the fact that she called him 'Sasuke-kun' again. The wind blew and they could hear a small creak of something from somewhere, and the doves passing over them. He stared at her with an unusual face, watching as how the sunset behind her made her look a little wistful.

"Sakura…"

_Can I tell her?_

He tightened his fists and looked away.

_I… can't._

Sakura stared worriedly at him. Sasuke was so quiet, glaring at the trees across them, his hands tightened into fists and his shoulders are tensed. It looked like he was debating to himself whether or not he would do something. Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He faced her abruptly, and Sakura blinked her eyes twice, taking back her hand that was on his shoulder. His eyes suddenly turned serious, and he was staring directly at her jade eyes. She felt light-headed. She found herself lost in his eyes.

"Sakura… promise me."

Sakura frowned at the seriousness of his voice. "Promise you what?"

"Just promise me."

Slowly, she nodded. She gazed at him closely as the sky turned dark and stars started appearing.

Sasuke held her hand, feeling uneasy of doing things he had never done before. He never thought he would do this someday.

"Promise me that you'll forgive me for this."

The wind blew, and only the rustling of leaves could be heard. It suddenly started raining, and the thunder rumbled.

Sakura found herself in his arms, her lips against his in an unmistakable brush. Her eyes widened, staring deeply into his. It was just a simple kiss, her lips against his. Just a peck…

-----

_Everything I know, and anywhere I go  
It gets hard but it wont take away my love  
And when the last one falls  
When it's all said and done  
It gets hard but it wont take away my love_

-----

…But everything around them seemed to disappear.

-----

_I'm here without you baby  
But you're still on my lonely mind  
I think about you baby  
And I dream about you all the time_

-----

"I… wanted to show you… what I could not say."

She didn't have time to think when Sasuke leaned down once again to capture her lips. The arm around her waist tightened, and the hand holding the back of her head felt a little warmer. She wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss went deeper.

It showed… his feelings….

That he thought were never there.

-----

_I'm here without you baby  
But you're still with me in my dreams_

_-----_

He listened to the rhythmic pouring of the rain, and appreciated the feeling of the cold water against his skin before he drew away to breathe.

He stared at her and smiled. Her hair was drenched, sticking to her forehead, and her lips looked reddish still, even through the coldness and wetness. Her eyes remained closed, and he was glad for that.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

-----

_And tonight, girl, it's only you and me…_

_-----_

Sakura opened her eyes upon hearing what he just said, but he was gone.

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tbc.

A/N: Yes, it's to be continued. In another song-fic again. So… is this okay? I'm not really sure… But I did everything I can. The next song-fic will probably be the last.

Thanks to the readers of "Blind."

I have to go now. For any grammatical errors, I apologize. I'm actually grounded right now, and I just sneaked to get to the computer and type this, and then post. So I'm really in a rush. " Sorry, guys! I'm now working on the next one, so I'll probably be able to post it earlier than intended.

REVIEW PLEASE. I get my motivation from your reviews. Sometimes, ideas suddenly pop into my head when I read your reviews.

-strictly ext only-


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